Sasol Mining, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Sasol Limited, today announced the formation of a black-women controlled coal mining company called Ixia Coal(Pty) Limited. In a transaction valued at almost R1,9 billion Ixia Coal will acquire 20% of Sasol Mining's shares through the issue of new shares. Ixia Coal is a venture with Women Investment Portfolio Holdings Limited (WIPHOLD) and Mining Women Investments (Pty) Limited (Mining Women Investments), a newly established company comprising women drawn from the areas where Sasol Mining has operations and coal reserves.

 

Heralding the second phase of Sasol Mining's broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) strategy, this transaction enables Sasol Mining to achieve compliance with the Mining Charter's ownership requirements.

 

The first phase of Sasol Mining's BEE strategy was the creation of Igoda Coal (Pty) Limited, a coal export venture with Eyesizwe Coal announced in March 2006. Now, with the formation of Ixia Coal, Sasol Mining's BEE ownership component will increase to an estimated 26% (calculated on attributable units of production) well before the 2014 deadline.

 

Sasol executive director responsible for the South African energy businesses, Dr Benny Mokaba says: "This transaction not only achieves compliance with the Mining Charter, but also promotes women in mining. We want to create lasting empowerment by providing opportunities for our country's women to enter and benefit from the traditionally male-dominated mining industry. Our focus will be on developing relevant skills and building capacity among historically disadvantaged women."

 

Mokaba adds: "Our intention is to create a lasting legacy through skills development and capacity building in support of government's socio-economic objectives. This announcement is another step in our over-arching ambition to empower a broad-base of historically disadvantaged South Africans by advancing initiatives that are sustainable, credible and of benefit to both stakeholders and our country."

 

Controlled by black women, Ixia Coal will become an investor in Sasol Mining. Over the longer term Ixia Coal, with the assistance of Sasol Mining, will also develop operational capacity enabling the company to operate its own coal mines.

 

"We partnered with WIPHOLD because of the role that we together can play in developing a new women's mining group. With sound business acumen and a strong empowerment track record, WIPHOLD will help us build Ixia Coal into a new, sustainable women's empowerment company that over time will become involved in operating coal mines. This will include transferring skills to the new company," says Sasol Mining MD Hermann Wenhold.

 

Mining Women Investments, the new entrant, is comprised of thousands of rural black women, who have not previously been empowered. The group has been constituted by WIPHOLD, following a series of workshops held with women in the Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, where Sasol Mining has operations and coal reserves.

 

WIPHOLD is an investment and operating company owned and managed by black women, with interests in a range of industries. Founded in 1994, it is dedicated to the empowerment of women. Represented countrywide, it has 1 200 direct women beneficiaries and, through non-governmental organisation shareholders, an estimated 200 000 women as indirect beneficiaries.

 

Sasol Mining will also benefit from the proposed 10% BEE transaction at Sasol Limited level, which if approved by shareholders will be implemented in 2008 and will take Sasol Mining beyond compliance with the Mining Charter's ownership requirements.

 

"The transaction has been concluded at fair value. The facilitation cost to Sasol is anticipated to be commensurate with other BEE deals in the mining sector in South Africa and will only be finalised once third party funding arrangements are in place," says Sasol chief financial officer Christine Ramon.

 

Sasol Mining is in the process of converting its mining rights as required by South African minerals legislation. The transaction agreements were signed on 4 October 2007 and are expected to be completed in 2008 subject to fulfilment of the following conditions: